Matthew Rhys Says HBO's Detective Drama Is 'Not Your Father’s 'Perry Mason'

The Perry Mason star shares the little white lie that impressed now-partner Keri Russell.

Matthew Rhys can’t be serious—or at least he doesn’t want to be. When he’s not being intense on screen, as he is in his current role as criminal defense attorney on the hit series Perry Mason, “I’m the absolute joker,” he says.

The actor, 48, is Zooming with Parade from his home in Brooklyn, where he lives with his partner Keri Russell, 46 (they began dating while co-starring in The Americans), as well as her kids River, 15; and Willa, 11, from her first marriage; and their son Sam, 6. He’s in a black-hooded sweatshirt, having just come from a workout in the park. “I take my resistance bands,” he says, “and I resist working out.” There does come a time, laughs Rhys, “where Keri’s like, ‘Stop with the jokes.’ The other day she was like, ‘It’s like a disease with you sometimes. I can see your mind going, How can I make a pun out of what’s being said?’” What he does take seriously is the place he first called home.

Rhys was raised in Cardiff, Wales, with his older sister Rachel—“the brains of the outfit,” he explains—by his mother Helen, who taught music to blind children; and his father Glyn, a headmaster at a primary school. “I think you could tip I was possibly headed for a life of performance, because I was a bit of a clown,” says Rhys, “I could impersonate and mimic.” But what also served his talent is a common Welsh trait, “the ferocity at which they will tell you how proud they are of being Welsh,” says Rhys. “Being a very small cousin next door to a very large England, you’ve had to shout and scream for your own identity.” And that strong foundation, “lends itself as kind of a springboard to pretend to be whomever you want.” After playing Elvis in high school and attending London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, he’s been pretending professionally ever since.

He performed on stage in the West End and starred in Brothers & Sisters and The Americans; in Spielberg’s The Post, and with Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. And now he’s back for the second season of Perry Mason (March 6 on HBO), in the title role that earned him an Emmy nomination. “It’s not your father’s Perry Mason,” says Rhys of the 1930s-set show that reimagines Mason with a past as a private investigator with a painful military history, driven to earn his law degree. In season two, Mason builds his new law firm while taking on “thrilling cases in the same vein as season one,” says Rhys. Or, as he wrote on Twitter: “This season is like camping. IN-TENTS.” Settled in until he picks up his son from first grade, Rhys shares how he got to Hollywood and where he’s headed next.

What did you know about Perry Mason before taking on the role? Had you read any of the Erle Stanley Gardener novels or watched the Raymond Burr TV show?

I never read any of his novels but I was very aware of the show. It was huge in Britain. I had this very vague, kind of misty memory that, Yeah, that’s the show where they always confess on the stand. It was one of those behemoth shows that just ran the years.

So was that intimidating to be up for such an iconic part? 

My agent left a message saying, “You want to remake Perry Mason?” I was like Remake Perry Mason?! No one should remake Perry Mason! And then I understood it was more a reimagining of the show. And when I heard the backstory they were going to give him, I was intrigued. It was a very different Mason. I saw it as the building of an antihero. The darker, the more fallible, the more human; the more life problems he has, hopefully the more interesting.

Perry Mason begins in Los Angeles in 1932. What was the most fun about filming in that time period? 

The clothes always got me. I’ve always had this kind of thing for the ‘30s, I guess. It’s a period of Hollywood that is so romantic and glamorous. It was this incredible moment in L.A.’s history when the entire country was on its knees due to the Depression, and L.A. was flourishing because the one thing that did well was entertainment. People wanted to escape reality, so movies really took off. And walking onto those sets and seeing...HBO, God bless them, have never done things by half, so you’d walk onto a set with 400 extras and just feel like you were stepping back in time.

A lot of people don’t realize you’re not American. You were born in Cardiff, Wales. What do you most appreciate about how you grew up? 

We used to roam around like packs of feral children on bikes. We would ride to canals and play on canal locks. It was everything we were told not to do, and it’s a wonder none of us died! What I really treasure from my upbringing is the freedom that place allowed me, and the innocence. And in Wales the performing arts are revered—and I would say, even forced upon children. Three times a year, you compete in these cultural events where you perform, you sing, you dance; from an early age, everyone does it. It’s only at 18, when I said, “I’m gonna do it professionally,” that people were like, “No no no, it’s a hobby! You don’t have to do it professionally!” And then wheels came off.

Did your path to Hollywood go the way you imagined it or much differently?

To be honest, I wasn’t quite sure what the path was. I was doing a play at the Royal Court and an American agent came to see it before I went to New Zealand to do a job. He said, “On the way back, I’ll set up some auditions, see how you do.” So I literally stopped off in L.A. on the way back, and he got me this audition with Julie Taymor for her first movie, Titus, with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. I was 24 and I got the part, and I was like Hollywood’s great! You turn up and get huge movies with huge movie stars. It’s brilliant! And then the next 10 years I couldn't catch a cold. I worked in theater in London and as a busboy in a kitchen, and I would come back to L.A. every year for pilot season, and I didn’t get anything! I thought, I’m not gonna do this anymore. This is a joke. And then on my last pilot season I got Brothers & Sisters for ABC.

You played Kevin Walker on Brothers & Sisters for five seasons (2006-2011). What are your favorite memories from working on that show?

Oh God, it was such a learning curve for me. I remember walking in and seeing Sally Field, and just going [high-pitched] Ah! kind of Oh, there she is! It was a powerhouse, with Calista Flockhart, Rachel Griffiths; then Rob Lowe joined us, Beau Bridges. It was humbling. But I learned so much from Sally, just drilling all of us: “It’s all about the work, and if it’s not, then there’s no point being here.” Dave Annable, who played my younger brother, and myself were playing a scene one evening, and [Sally] just stopped and she said, “I will smash your heads together if you don’t start focusing.” We were like “Oh…oh right, yeah.” She’s a consummate professional.

Your next role as Philip Jennings on the ‘80s spy thriller The Americans earned you an Emmy in 2018. As you look back, what do you think really made the show such a hit with viewers and critics alike? 

That the whole spy element took a back seat. What it hung its coat on was that it was a show about marriage; about two people struggling to make something work. The spy premise is titillating and exhilarating, but really it was the backdrop to what that story was about: a marriage story about real life in heightened situations.

You use an American accent in so much of your work. Did you have any secret tricks that helped?

The greatest secret trick is American television. We grew up watching Starsky & Hutch, The A-Team, Airwolf, Westerns, that you go out as a kid and try and emulate those accents in the school yard. That sound is in your ear from a very early age. And then you just do the bread and butter work of vocal coaching. And CDs—remember those?—CDs in the car, you know, one thing the LA traffic allows you is hours of listening to your vocal coach on a CD.

Is there still an American word that’s hard for you?

I still struggle with the “r” to a dark “l”—so “world” is hard. And “murder.” I was like, “I’m signing up to do Perry Mason and I struggle saying “murderer!” I’m always badgering the writers, saying, “Can we call them “killers” or “killer?” And they’re like “No, he’s a murderer!”

You also gained a partner from The Americans in your co-star Keri Russell, who you’d met years earlier. What finally won her over? 

Oh God, that’ll be a question for her! I’d met her 10 years earlier and she didn’t remember me, so I clearly didn’t make that much of an impression! I do remember lying about what I liked to read, because she was a big reader: “I love books, too, I love books…” Keri found out, consequently, I know nothing about books. I would just read the Idiot’s Guides to whatever she was reading.

Had you ever seen her on Felicity? What did you think? 

When we started filming The Americans, the crew would always joke to her about Felicity. Like, when she used to beat people up, the crew would joke “Oh my god, Felicity just beat the s--t out of that guy!” I then watched it retrospectively and I couldn’t believe the size of her hair! I thought, Was that done in CGI or was that your real hair? People would come up to us and say, “I can’t believe you cut your hair in Felicity,” and I used to go, What’s that about? Then when I saw her hair, I was like I understand!

What makes you and Keri a good match? 

There’s usually that thing where you need one person to be the calm head—that’s her. And then I’m the kind of fiery one. We balance each other, I think. We work well as a team; we have a good partnership and we make each other laugh.

Do the kids seem to have the acting bug—and if so, how do you feel about it?

Disaster. Sam and Willa talk about, “Yeah, we’ll just do acting.” And I go, “Yeah, why don’t you just do that? Let’s see how you deal with the rejection—years of it!” But yeah, they definitely have a leaning towards it. They enjoy it, they’re performative and it’s kind of fun. As soon as they get older, I’ll make sure they don’t follow their dreams.

You seem to have a number of hobbies. You starred on the The Wine Show, you love wine. And you bought a wooden boat… 

The boat, dear God! I bought it five years ago and I still go, What was I thinking? It was an old wooden boat built in Brooklyn, the same class of boat that Hemingway had, and she was called, “Rarebit.” Do you know the Welsh dish? I was like, Oh, this is fated, it’s meant to be! I mean, it’s basically my full-time hobby now. When it’s not on the water, you’re fixing it. Everyone says “Do it! Do it!” They don’t think you’ll do it. And then you go, Oh my god what was I…I wasn’t thinking. Anyway, it’s just become a giant…thing.

What is your happy place? 

As much as I joke about the boat, when I am on the boat is when I’m happiest. When I’m tinkering and puttering around and fixing the little stuff, I’m happy. Or in my new shed. I’m very lucky to have a very tiny shed in the backyard full of tools to fix the boat. The greatest thing it does is offer solitude in a house that’s more and more like an asylum every day.

What’s next for you personally and professionally? 

We’re going to take the kids to Mexico for spring break. There’s nothing on the professional horizon. If anything, just to put an icing on the cake, what I would love to do is a play in New York. That would be my dream next step. It’s what I started out doing, and it’s something I’d like to return to.

And though you’re far from Cardiff now, do you keep any Welsh traditions close to your heart? 

I only speak to our 6-year-old son, Sam, in Welsh and he’ll answer me in English. But really, the main thing is St. David’s Day, which is what we call “Welsh St. Paddy’s Day,” the patron saint’s day of Wales. Keri very kindly cooks me my favorite Welsh dish, which is a rack of lamb with leeks, and I make the kids wear daffodils, which is the national flower of Wales. And I usually will get misty-eyed and tell them tales of the old country.

RHYS' PIECES

Book you’re reading Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Show you’re bingeing Slow Horses with Gary Oldman. It’s brilliant.

Favorite time of day Sunset! I just love the end of the day. It’s like, OK, everything’s done, there’s no more work emails, the day is done. So now we just kind of relax.

Own too many of I collect pocketknives. I used to love whittling when I was a kid. I used to whittle sticks and nothingness, really. At home, in Cardiff, there’s boxes. My mother still goes, “What am I doing with these?! I probably have a hundred.”

Nickname growing up Bic. I cut myself so badly with a Bic razor that for a short period of time, I was called Bic. I was like 12, but there was nothing to shave!

Been Googling lately I don’t know why I’m telling you this, because Keri doesn’t know. If she knows, she’ll kill me. But there’s no heating [in my shed] and it’s been incredibly cold here in New York, so today I was Googling a kerosene heater—which, in a wooden shed, is probably a terrible idea! Now Googling, “How likely is the shed to combust if I use a kerosene heater?”

Gadget you use the most Is a coffee grinder a gadget? I also have a Leatherman multi-tool I use all the time. I understand why the pocketknife evolved. You need more! It’s usually fixing kids' things, like, “This is broken, this has fallen down this tiny crack…”

Listening to The last album I listened to is Rum, Sodomy & the Lash by The Pogues.

Role you’d love to play There’s a Welsh Braveheart story I have been trying to get made. His name was Owain Glyndŵr; my father was named after him. He was kind of the last Welsh prince who led the rebellion against England in the 16th century. You know, big, epic sword number. I’ve been knocking on doors for years, going, “Please can we make it?”

Weirdest fear Rats. I have a very irrational fear of them. If I see them, I can’t function. And in New York they are everywhere.

Favorite wine Either a Pomerol or a Saint-Émilion from Bordeaux. There’s a Pomerol called Château de Sales which I drink far too much of.

Job you’d enjoy as much as acting Cowboy. When I lived in L.A., I became friendly with a pro-rodeo cowboy. I grew up riding horses and I had my own horses when I was in L.A. I used to keep them in Griffith Park, so I’d ride every day and I’ve spent time on ranches and just loved it.

Project you’d join forces with Keri again for Do you remember Hart to Hart? Because they’re all coming back now. They’re remaking everything!

Favorite ritual with family I almost studied Celtic studies and Keri has a very similar interest in mind, so we celebrate every solstice. We usually have the kids kind of make a spiral out of things they find in nature, and we have a ritual that goes along with that. So we celebrate the changing of the season.

Compared to Perry Mason, how good an attorney you’d be I would be terrible! I would be appalling. My admiration for what they do is tenfold. They have to be, like, eight steps ahead of the game and react to what is going on in real time. The preparation they do for those cases is just enormous. I would not be Tom Cruise in A Few Good Men.